Dr Stock Pick HOT News & Alerts!

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My Picks for Wednesday Nov 25, 2009 are:

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GPRO, Gen-Probe Inc.

GPRO is a global leader in the development, manufacture and marketing of rapid, accurate and cost-effective nucleic acid tests (NATs) that are used primarily to diagnose human diseases and screen donated human blood. GPRO has more than 25 years of NAT expertise, and received the 2004 National Medal of Technology, America’s highest honor for technological innovation, for developing NAT assays for blood screening.

In October, GPRO completed its acquisition of Prodesse, Inc. Prodesse develops molecular diagnostic reagents for a variety of infectious disease applications. Prodesse sells four FDA

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Patni Computer Systems Ltd (PTI) reported earnings per ADS of 38 cents, exceeding the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 34 cents for the third quarter of 2009.   Revenues during the quarter were higher by 3.3% sequentially to $167.2 million from $161.9 million in the preceding quarter. Revenue growth was driven by volume growth of 3.0% (including higher number of days) and 0.3% due to currency impacts. Number of active clients was 283 at quarter end as compared to 294 in the second quarter of 2009.   Gross margin was at 37.1% or $62.0 million against 34.7% or $56.2 million in the previous quarter. Gross profit adjusted for extraordinary items is at $60.9 million at 36.4% during the quarter. Improvement in gross margin is primarily on account of higher utilization and impact of cost rationalization measures.   Sales and marketing expenses during the quarter were $14.2 million at 8.5% ...

Las Vegas Sands (LVS) Macau unit, Sand China raised $2.5 billion through its Hong Kong initial public offering (IPO). The company has priced the IPO for 1.87 billion shares at HK$10.38 per share, the low end of the expected HK$10.38-HK$13.88 range. The proceeds from this offering, combined with $1.75 billion in bank financing, would aid Sands China to restart its Macau's Cotai Strip construction projects. Last year, the company was forced to halt its casino expansion projects in Macau due to financial constraints, at which time it laid off 11,000 workers. The IPO is being handled by five investment banks. Citigroup (C) and Goldman Sachs (GS) are the joint global coordinators for the offer while Barclays PLC (BCS), BNP Paribas SA and UBS AG (UBS) are the underwriters. Earlier, in October, rival company Wynn Resorts (WYNN) had held its IPO ...

This post provides links to a number of interesting articles I have read over the past few days that you may also enjoy.

• Paul Krugman (The New York Times): Interest rates: the phantom menace, November 20, 2009. Well, what I hear is that officials don’t trust the demand for long-term government debt, because they see it as driven by a “carry trade”: financial players borrowing cheap money short-term, and using it to buy long-term bonds. They fear that the whole thing could evaporate if long-term rates start to rise, imposing capital losses on the people doing the carry trade; this could, they believe, drive rates way up, even though this possibility doesn’t seem to be priced in by the market. What’s wrong with this picture?

• Michael Panzner (Financial Armageddon): Economists: wrong again, November 21, 2009. As if they didn’t cause enough

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Future voting members of the Fed’s policy setting committee waved off concerns regarding a declining dollar on Thursday, Nov. 19, suggesting that unless the decline becomes volatile or otherwise erratic, concerns about an inflationary impulse are unwarranted.

In commentary that seems to suggest the dollar’s decline may be a counterbalance to a historically undervalued renminbi (RMB). Dallas Fed President Richard Fisher told Market News International (MNSI) that the declining dollar value was simply one factor out of many the Fed used as an analytical input for its policy setting model.

Fisher told reporters that “a gradually depreciating dollar” would not necessarily add an “enormous inflation impulse”, and that the Fed’s answer to concerns over a weaker dollar was to pay attention to the dollar’s activity. Fisher also mentioned that there are “trade-offs” to be made between the strength of the dollar and deliberately low interest rates existing over a protracted

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British retail giant Tesco has announced that it will set up a joint venture in China to develop its shopping center business in the nation. The joint venture will be 50% owned by Tesco and the remaining 50% will be owned by Asian investors, including HSBC Nan Fung China Real Estate Fund, Singapore's Metro Holdings, and [...]

Dr Stock Pick HOT News & Alerts!

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Tuesday November 17, 2009

DrStockPick.com Stock Report!

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Consorteum Holdings Inc. (OTCBB: CSRH) announced that it has proceeded to launch its consumer stored value rebate card. The consumer rebate card program will offer manufacturers and retailers a new way to process mail-in rebates that ensures increased customer loyalty and decreased overhead costs. Consorteum will work directly with manufactures and retailers to reduce the administration costs associated with mail-in rebate programs while providing a new way to increase consumer awareness. Additional revenue and cost-saving opportunities will be available

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Uppsala University in Sweden says the IEA's annual World Energy Outlook 'drastically underplayed the scale of future oil shortages'.  Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has won Slovenia's approval for the South Stream pipeline, 'undermining European Union efforts to reduce dependency on Russian gas supplies'.  A deal was signed late on Saturday, marking the fifth and final signatory of 'all the European partners needed for this project to be completed'.  Gazprom could receive 'exclusive rights' as a supplier of liquefied natural gas to Singapore after the expiry of a current contract with British Gas.  RusAl is planning to sell a 10% stake to help repay its $14 billion debt, and may offer special ventures and access deals in a reported bid to help China take the lion's share.  Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad says his country's nuclear rights are 'not ...

First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov has announced that Russia has again raised its target for revenue from various state asset sales next year to 100 billion rubles ($3.5 billion), more than 10 times the original target. 'The state will keep a so-called golden share in companies it considers important.'  But the move will link in neatly with Dmitry Medvedev's state-of-the-nation call to reorganize state corporations.  It sounds as though Medvedev is looking to Singapore for ideas about technical innovation, remarking during his weekend visit that 'the system of economic and technical education in your country is of great interest for us.'  The media have been responding to Medvedev's suggestion that Russia reduce its time zones to improve business relations. 'If you were to conflate the time zones totally, then obviously you would have some people who ...

The Trade Deficit decreased to $36.5 billion in September from $30.8 billion in August.  September exports increased by $3.7 billion to $132.0 billion, offset by the increase in imports by $9.3 billion to $168.4 billion.  The Commerce Department provided the September figures of the trade balance of the U.S. relative to selected trading partners, in billions of dollars, with surpluses in Hong Kong ($1.9), Australia ($0.9), Singapore ($0.3), and Egypt ($0.3).  Deficits were recorded, in billions of dollars, with China ($22.1), OPEC ($7.9),the European Union ($5.5), Mexico ($4.6), Japan ($4.1), Venezuela ($2.0), Nigeria ($1.9), Canada ($1.5), Korea ($0.8), and Taiwan ($0.7).

Upcoming Releases Retail Sales (11/16 at 8:30 AM EST) Business Inventories (11/16 at 10:00 AM EST) PPI (11/17 at 8:30 AM EST) Industrial Production (11/17 at 9:15 AM EST)

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